Written Answers Friday 8 October 2010

Scottish Executive

Energy Efficiency

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what purposes it uses the data contained in the Home Energy Efficiency Database, which includes information from domestic energy performance certificates for existing dwellings.

Stewart Stevenson: The Energy Savings Trust publish information from the Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) using a standard report system on their website. There is no record held centrally of who accesses this data and for what purpose.The Surveys Branch within the Communities Analytical Services Division also holds a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) dataset for existing buildings. The dataset was obtained for two purposes:to quality assure the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) Data, andto provide case-level weights which could be used to gross up the EPC dwelling data to counter bias in the EPC distribution to provide a national picture of the energy efficiency of the Scottish Housing stock. It is hoped to do this annually to derive a time series of energy efficiency trends - with a longitudinal element to determine rates of improvements by specific dwelling types.The surveys branch has also made some use of HEED data when comparing the SHCS estimated level of installations in an area with the level of HEED recorded installations. As the SHCS data is from a survey, the HEED data may on occasion record rare energy characteristics which were not picked up by the SHCS. The two sources complement each other as the SHCS seeks to provide a statistically representative picture and the HEED data is more indicative of the level of activity in an area.

Ministerial Engagements

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ministerial engagements have been held in the Coatbridge and Chryston parliamentary constituency since 1 January 2010, broken down by (a) ministerial portfolio, (b) date and (c) location.

John Swinney: The Information requested is not routinely recorded and therefore not held in the format requested. Systems were put in place on 8 March 2010 to collect this information more easily and we have provided this below.

  

 Minister
 Date
 Location


 Alex Salmond MSPFirst Minister
 4 June 2010
 Moodiesburn


 Nicola Sturgeon MSP Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
 24 May 2010
 Coatbridge


 Shona Robison MSPMinister for Public Health and Sport
 1 June 2010
 Coatbridge 


 7 June 2010
 Bellshill


 Alex Neil MSPMinister for Housing and Communities
 24 May 2010
 Coatbridge


 21 September 2010
 Coatbridge


 Adam Ingram MSPMinister for Children and Early Years
 15 June 2010
 Coatbridge


 4 August 2010
 Coatbridge


 Kenny MacAskill MSPCabinet Secretary for Justice
 22 March 2010
 Coatbridge


 7 July 2010
 Gartcosh

Volunteering

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35533 by Keith Brown on 30 August 2010, how many of the 1,000 volunteering opportunities for school leavers announced by the Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning on 17 June 2010 ( Official Report c. 27425) had been delivered by 17 September 2010, broken down by local authority.

Keith Brown: Since the summer, the Scottish Government has been working hard to help school leavers secure a place in learning or training. As well as the range of opportunities we previously announced, we have tasked Project Scotland to work with Skills Development Scotland and partners in the voluntary sector to target volunteering opportunities at those summer leavers who have yet to secure a positive destination.

  Many of our young people have successfully taken up places in college or training; this is the right time to target these volunteering places at those still in need.